TayJoe [oneshots]

Caring

Credit: tayandjoeff
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I woke up to an empty bed, Joe's side left bare and cold, empty. My mind wondered as I puzzled about what he was up to and where he was. Had he gone to buy something from the store? Was he making breakfast? Coffee? Had he run away? Did he get an urgent call?

Every possibility ran through my head as I stared longingly at the indentation that he had left in the bed. I noticed his jeans still hung over the side of the chair and his shirt still strewn across the floor from the night before when we had only just stopped ourselves from getting distracted from the work we were meant to be doing, painting the walls to be precise. I smiled at the memory of his lips on mine and his hands in my hair.

I turned my head to the bathroom as I heard a noise seep from under the door. That's where he was. I wondered why I hadn't thought of that as the bathroom light was so obvious to me now, escaping under the small gap, giving a little light into the almost dark room, the only other light coming through the curtains.

I heard that same noise again.

My mind swirled as I wondered what he was doing in there, it seemed like he had been in there for some time, what was wrong? I peeled the comforter from my legs, letting the chill morning air bite at my bare legs, I wandered over to the bathroom door, knocking gently while asking:

'Hey, babe? You okay in there?' concern laced through my voice as I heard the noise again then an extremely croaky reply

'Yep' he said before the noise was emitted again. He was most certainly not okay.

I knew he wouldn't have locked the door so I pressed on the handle gently and pushed open the bathroom door.

The scene in front of me made my heart wrench. He was sat on the floor, the pearly white toilet in front of him, contrasting with his unhappy face. He was pale and there was a small sheen on his forehead, I could see him shivering slightly as his bare chest was exposed to the cold. He had a glass of water sat next to him and Mere was perched behind him, watching everything but not moving.

From the sour scent in the air and the green tint to his cheeks I could tell he had thrown up and I knew he was about to get up and say something like, 'I'm fine,' or 'Don't worry about me,' but instead he leaned his head over the toilet and vomited into it. The noise finally made sense.

'Oh Joe,' I said quietly as he leaned back and looked at me once more. I took a step towards him and let my knees hit the floor so I was in front of him at his height, I cupped his cheek with my hand and smiled softly at him

'why didn't you wake me up?' I picked a long strand of hair and moved it out his eyes, my man needed a haircut

'You look so serene when you're sleeping and I didn't want to disturb that.' He shrugged at me, his voice sounding like sandpaper, rough and worn out.

'Joe, you were throwing up, I don't care if I look serene, wake me up so I can take care of you.' He looked down at the glass of water sat next to him, picking it up and taking a sip before placing it back in exactly the same place. I kissed him on the cheek before standing up again, making my way to the cupboard where I kept all the remedies.

'So why are you vomiting everywhere?' I asked him jokily, opening the cupboard doors

'one, I'm not puking everywhere and two, I think the chicken I made yesterday for my lunch, while you were out, wasn't cooked properly...' he grimaced at me as he clutched his stomach in pain. Food Poisoning. Great.

'So, I can't actually give you anything for that, but we're just gonna have to wait until you stop puking,' he groaned as I finished, leaning his forehead on the side of the toilet and shutting his eyes trying to block out the agony in his stomach.